HCMC – Although the Cam Lam-Vinh Hao section is the last PPP subproject of the North-South Expressway project to have its contract signed, sufficient funding for the project has been secured.
A consortium comprising Deo Ca Group and 194 Construction Investment Corporation, the investor of the subproject under the public-private partnership (PPP), Tien Phong Bank (TPBank) and Cam Lam-Vinh Hao Expressway JSC signed a loan contract for this subproject on December 7, the local media reported.
The expressway section requires an estimated VND8.9 trillion plus. VND5.14 trillion will be sourced from the State budget and VND1 trillion from investors’ equity. TPBank approved a VND1.7 trillion loan for the subproject while the investors will contribute the remaining VND1.1 trillion through a business cooperation contract.
Dinh Tien Duc, director of TPBank’s Thang Long Branch, said the bank saw the feasibility of the subproject and had a positive review of Deo Ca Group’s capacity.
According to Phan Van Thang, vice chairman of Deo Ca Group, the investor consortium had contributed over VND731 billion in equity to the subproject, exceeding the target by 200%.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 1,000 people had been mobilized for the subproject.
However, the construction site for the 2.2-kilometer section in Ninh Thuan Province has yet to be handed over. The provincial government has directed the relevant departments and agencies to speed up the site clearance work and ensure building materials for the section passing through the province.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Le Kim Thanh, head of the Public-Private Partnership Department under the Ministry of Transport, said the investors of three PPP subprojects of the North-South Expressway had faced multiple difficulties, mainly brought on by fund raising and signing of credit contracts within six months after the signing of PPP contracts.
The North-South Expressway has three subprojects executed under the PPP model – Dien Chau-Bai Vot, Nha Trang-Cam Lam and Cam Lam-Vinh Hao. Investors of the Dien Chau-Bai Vot and Nha Trang-Cam Lam subprojects are finding it hard to access bank loans.
